The Tap loves restaurant tips from readers, so we’re going to award two Heavy Table pint glasses to the best tipster each month, starting in May. The Tap is the metro area’s comprehensive restaurant buzz roundup, so if you see a new or newly shuttered restaurant, or anything that’s “coming soon,” email The Tap editor Jason Walker at jason@heavytable.com.

The long-discussed, often-contentious transition of the old Lake Harriet concession stand into something bigger and better has finally culminated in Bread & Pickle, which is set to open this week.

Kim Bartmann, the Bryant-Lake Bowl, Barbette and Red Stag restaurateur whose concept beat out 10 other proposals for the spot, will offer a local- and organic-focused menu of sandwiches, salads, breakfast, espress,o and ice cream – a huge upgrade from the old hot dogs-and-nachos concession – and will hit just in time for bandshell concert season.

“We’re going to open at 7 am with egg sandwiches, granola, and fruit until 11, and we’re going to have an espresso machine with coffee,” Bartmann said. “We got a wireless booster so you can come down there with your iPad and hang out under the building and pretend to be working.”

The menu, which will change with the summer harvest, will also offer picnics, where patrons could order a box of sandwiches and potato salad or a mix of charcuterie, cheeses, and a baguette.

“We’re just pretty much responding to what people wanted down there,” Bartmann said. “We’re going to try and do a zero-waste thing around the bandshell and with the concessions. We’re not having bottled water, because there was a big problem with bottles being in the lake all the time. We’re going to be selling local products; we try to have a range of price points. The hot dog is $4, the ‘works burger’ with cheese with everything on it is $8-something, which I think is pretty reasonable for grass-fed, organic local beef.”

Bread & Pickle will be open through Labor Day and possibly later, depending on weather. There won’t be beer and wine this year, but Bartmann did not rule it out for the future.

“If we have a (warm) year like last year, we’ll be open until Halloween,” she said. “That would make up for the crappy spring. Last year, Vita.mn did a music and movie thing on Friday nights after Labor Day in September and that went really well… we’ll be looking for some people who want to do that kind of stuff.”

Look for an update on Pat’s Tap, Bartmann’s brewpub opening in early June, in next week’s edition of The Tap.

Matty O’Reilly, owner of the Aster Cafe and 318 in Excelsior, is behind Republic, a brewpub coming to the former Preston’s space in the Seven Corners district. O’Reilly said his new joint would feature 22 craft, six Belgian, and four German beers and a quality-focused menu.

“It’s a little more thoughtful approach to food,” he said. “Ninety percent of our menu is 10 dollars or under – it’s burgers, it’s sandwiches, it’s French fries, it’s salads, but we’re not just slicing open frozen boxes of food to make that possible. It’s more hands-on, real ingredients; it’s affordable, accessible food.”

O’Reilly hopes Republic can draw a diverse audience to the area near the U of M’s West Bank, which recently has seen Grandma’s Saloon and Bullwinkle’s go out of business.

“We’re not doing anything that should alienate anyone who used to come here,” he said. “We’re a bar. We have 32 tap beers and a full liquor license. But we’re taking away the things like the fishbowls and concentrating on really, really good food.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that kids are smart. These days, the it’s almost like their intelligence was being insulted by what some of these places do. Students are brilliant, and they deserve something treated with respect.”

Like Republic’s commitment to wine, which will have nine whites and nine reds topping out at $8 a glass.

“Our wine program was very intentional, just a global representation of a good batch of varietals,” O’Reilly said. “It’s really, really cool that people will be able to come in here and try a lot of things and not pay over $8. To have glasses of wine in big 6-7-ounce pours for $4 — it’s relatively nonexistent in the neighborhood given that we’re near a college campus. People hear ’32 tap beers’ and they don’t usually start asking questions about your wine program, but I’m pretty proud of that little list.”

Republic will be open 4 pm-1 am initially, with plans for brunch beginning later this summer.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

River Chocolate Company (closed)

2822 W 43rd St, Minneapolis

After opening in February (see our story here), Deirdre Davis’ gourmet shop in Linden Hills has oddly and abruptly closed. According to Hennepin County Court records, owners Davis and Allen Whitney were taken to court on April 4 by landlords Schwier & Saphir LLC for failure to pay rent, and they were evicted May 5. A quick check Monday found a bare shop with the sign down and only some shelves remaining in the store. River Chocolate’s Facebook page mentioned plans to appear at opening weekend of the Mill City Farmers Market, so perhaps the retail location was just a colossal dud, but it had barely lasted a month before the rent check went missing.

D’Amico’s new mostly-lunch spot at Walker Art Center, Gather, is set to open June 2 in the former 20.21. Chef is Josh Brown, a Masa and Campiello veteran whose menu of “locally sourced, globally inspired modern American cuisine” will be served from 11:30 am-2:30 pm Tues.-Sun. and 5-9 pm Thursdays. Also, on the first Thursday of the month, a guest chef will provide a free small bite menu during a “sampling series.” First up is D’Amico’s Jay Sparks; Alex Roberts of Restaurant Alma and Brasa is scheduled July 7. The new lunch-heavy theme likely makes sense at the Walker; and with D’Amico’s muscle and a great view, Gather will probably fare well.

YO!Sushi | Company says five metro locations coming, first in Minneapolis in 2011 | yosushi.com

The Tap is The Heavy Table’s guide to area restaurant openings, closings, and other major events. The Tap is compiled by Heavy Table writer Jason Walker, and will be published biweekly. If you already subscribe to our newsletter, look for an emailed version of The Tap every other week — otherwise, you can find it on the website on alternating Tuesdays.If you’ve got tips for The Tap, please email Jason Walker at jason@heavytable.com. Follow The Tap on Twitter at @jasonwalkermpls.

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About the Author

Jason Walker

Jason Walker was born and raised in Kansas, where he grew up loving his grandmother’s homemade noodles and weekly fried fish. A summer internship in Milwaukee turned Jason and his wife, Leita, into die-hard fans of the Northwoods culture, and they moved to Minneapolis in 2006. Immediately the quality of food and drink in the Twin Cities was impressive – that even the most unassuming bar usually had a decent menu – and Jason knew he was home. Now living in the Fulton neighborhood with two kids, Jason grows tomatoes, cans voraciously, and badgers his neighbors with conversations about restaurants.